


Cupid's Arrow

by ButterflyMama78



Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Cupid falls in love, F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:22:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterflyMama78/pseuds/ButterflyMama78
Summary: Aphrodite is jealous of a beautiful young woman she's never even seen.  She wants her son, Cupid, to use his arrow to make the girl fall in love with some ugly fat old man (her words).  The God of Love refuses to use his abilities to hurt anyone, and after he sees a photograph of the girl...Well.The God of Love realizes he's falling in love.Inspired by Cupid from Xena and Hercules.
Relationships: Cupid/OFC
Kudos: 2





	Cupid's Arrow

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!!!  
> I had to honor the character who introduced me to the hunky yumminess of one Karl Urban. Yup, Cupid. I was 18, a freshman in college, when I first laid my eyes on that golden-haired, tanned god. And I fell hard.
> 
> This was supposed to be a one shot, but my muse ran away with me before she darted off again. Here's part one, once my muse returns I will write and post part two.
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> (ps... disclaimer: I do not own the images in the aesthetic I created, nor do I own the characters but my OCs...)

Valentine’s Day is T-minus 7 days, 14 hours, 38 minutes…

Cupid snorted awake when the damned alarm sounded on his phone. He rolled over and grabbed the device to silence the alert. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” he muttered, dropping the iPhone onto the blanket before scrubbing his hands over his face. Dammit, he wanted to go back to sleep.  
Unfortunately he had a job to do. And if he didn’t do it, his mother would never let him hear the end of it.   
Aphrodite had been on a tear ever since she’d heard about some cute little brunette running a quaint little bookstore in the middle of Nowhere, Missouri. Rumor had it the girl was very beautiful and every red-blooded man in a hundred mile radius were flocking around her.  
He screwed his eyes shut. His mother could be a very jealous woman at times, but this was ridiculous. She wanted him to go undercover, get a job somewhere in that town (preferably at the bookstore, if Aphrodite had her way), and nail some fat, ugly old man with one of his arrows and make him fall in love with the girl.  
He sighed heavily as he sat up, the bedding pooling at his bare waist. One thing he hated was his own mother using him to ease her jealousy at some innocent woman’s expense.   
“That’s not how I work, Mom,” he muttered to himself. He threw the covers off and stood up, shuddering at the slight chill in the room.   
He preferred to bring couples together naturally without wasting his precious arrows. Occasionally someone would drag their heels and deny they were head over heels in love with the person they were meant to be with. Then he would bust out the crossbow and take aim.  
But to use an arrow to force love on someone? It was immoral. He would not do something that went against his beliefs.  
He would go, he would try to get hired on somewhere in Valentine Creek, Missouri, and see if there was anyone she was interested in. And if the feelings were reciprocated he would work his matchmaking skills, bring them together and hope for the best.  
Cupid grabbed a pair of boxer briefs and pulled them on, formulating the plan in his head. Research the town, see if there are any job openings, apply and charm his way into a job, meet the girl, befriend the girl, and hopefully fix her up with her one true love.   
He finished getting dressed and fixed himself a pot of coffee before he grabbed his laptop and settled down on his bed once more to do a Google search on the girl his mother had taken a dislike to sight unseen.   
Valentine Creek, Missouri. Population 8,347. Located on the Missouri River in the middle of the state, cute little tourist town with a rich history. His hazel eyes skimmed along the list of businesses until the name of the bookstore Aphrodite had practically spat out last night caught his attention.   
Adventure Awaits. Established in 1996 by Nic and Calliope Wilder on the square in historic downtown Valentine’s Creek, Adventure Awaits is a bookstore, bakery and coffee shop rolled into one. Current owner and operator is their daughter, Penelope Wilder, a 2018 graduate of Olympus University where she studied business management and creative writing. The Wilders have collaborated with area businesses during festivals to host wine walks to raise funds for restoring historic sites of interest; children’s workshops such as creative writing, art, dance, theater, and baking; pet adoption specials; back-to-school supply drives, and Christmas book drives.  
He reached for his coffee and took a sip before searching to see if Adventure Awaits had a website. “Bingo,” he murmured when it pulled up. He frowned thoughtfully as he took in the simple page with a Victorian-esque background. Links to view the dessert and beverage menu, books, gifts, upcoming events lined the top of the page.  
He scrolled down the main page, finding it to be a blog of sorts touting specials, sales, employment opportunities and photos from recent events.   
One photo caught his attention. A blue-eyed brunette curled up on an overstuffed armchair with a book and a three-legged cat.   
Meet the not-so-new owner and operator of Adventure Awaits: Penny (and Church).  
Cupid double-tapped the photo to get a better look.   
Long dark hair flowing in waves, bright baby blue eyes framed with long dark lashes, high cheekbones, full pink lips, flawless skin. An aura of shy innocence in that smile.  
Warmth flooded through him as he studied, as he memorized Penelope Wilder’s photograph. He wondered if her hair felt as silky as it looked, if it would curl around his fingers. Would her lips feel plush and velvety soft under his? What would her kisses taste like? Would her eyes sparkle with love and adoration as she looked deep into his own hazels?  
The increasing tightness in his chest snapped him out of his reverie. Cupid scrubbed his hands over his face and drew in a deep breath. “You are the God of Love, you have no time for a romance of your own, you idiot,” he berated himself. “Mom would kill you, too, for this.”  
He spread his fingers to peek at the computer screen once more, to the chocolate brown tresses and the baby blue eyes and the shy smile. “I can’t do this.”  
Cupid startled when his phone vibrated on the night stand. With a groan he dropped his hands and snatched it up. “Crap.” He swiped his thumb to answer. “Mom.”  
“Cupid, don’t you have somewhere you need to be?” The sickly sweet tone in Aphrodite’s voice belied the irritation he picked up on.  
“No, I’m not doing it,” he leaned back against the headboard.   
“Yes, you are,” she growled at him. “You are going to fly your cute little ass to Missouri and make her fall in love with some fat old geezer.”  
“Mother, what you are demanding of me goes against what I stand for,” he warned. “I will not force that kind of fate on an undeserving innocent.”  
“I don’t care,” he rolled his eyes at her flippant tone. “You’re doing this or I’m disowning you.”  
“You say that every time you want me to do your dirty work, Mom,” he reached up and raked his fingers through his golden blond hair. “You haven’t disowned me yet.”  
“Just do it, Cupid,” she snapped and disconnected the call.  
“No, Mom,” he dropped the phone onto the bed. “I’m not gonna ruin her life to appease your jealousy.” He leaned forward to look at the photo of the blue-eyed beauty once more. 

“No, Church, you can’t have a brownie,” Penelope smiled at the three-legged cat at her feet. “You shouldn’t be back here anyway.”  
Big amber eyes blinked at her from the sweet ebony face before the rescue hobbled off with his fluffy tail flicking sassily at her.  
She shook her head as she finished stocking the dessert display. “Chocolate isn’t good for furbabies,” she picked up the cream cheese chocolate chip brownie she’d saved for herself and followed the cat to the window display overlooking the park across the street. It was cloudy out, snow was in the forecast for the afternoon. “Think we’ll get the four inches of snow the weatherman promised?” She scritched behind Church’s left ear.  
The cat purred in response, a deep and loud rumble as he turned his head to urge her to scratch him under his jaw.   
She smiled as she complied. “Not that we have to get out in it, since we live upstairs and I did the shopping last night.” Her baby blue eyes wandered to the window again. “Well, we have thirty minutes before it’s time to open, Mom will be here later to help me with today’s delivery… Is it wrong to want a shot of tequila to get me through the day?”  
“Mrrrrp,” Church gave her a half meow, half purr for a response before turning and hopping up onto the vintage wingback chair in the display. He promptly curled up on the soft ivory afghan.  
“It was just a hypothetical question,” she sighed as she straightened the books on the side table. “Maybe.”  
She turned away from the window and walked through the small store. She switched around a few Valentine’s Day displays, rotating the books on the stands and tried not to groan as she wondered how many men she was going to have to fend off today.  
Not a single one of them were interested in a relationship. They wanted to hook up, do the one night stand thing and go on their merry little way, or the friends with benefits, no-strings-attached thing.   
She was shy, introverted, and hooking up for sex was something she could not do. If she was going to invest her time in someone, step out of her comfort zone and make herself vulnerable then that person better be in it for the long haul, and not just for sex. Some of her friends had a revolving door of lovers, and she understood that this day and age that was the new normal. It just was not for her. She wanted the old cliche, a whirlwind romance evolving into happily ever after.  
Penny groaned. “I should just go on vacation every year around this time, Church,” she picked up a copy of one of her favorite books and carried it to the counter. “What do you think? A little bungalow on the beach somewhere? Maybe run away to New Zealand?” She chuckled when she received no response from the stray-turned-spoiled house cat. “I’m terrified of flying, that would never work anyway,” she shook her head as she propped Pride and Prejudice up next to the register. One quick glance at the clock on the wall told her she had five minutes to go before it was time to open. With another sigh she rounded the counter to start the coffee maker for the regular coffee, checked the other machines, and grabbed the keys to unlock the door.  
“Church, it’s already starting to snow,” she commented as she unlocked the door leading to the enclosed foyer. Once the main door was unlocked she dipped into her bucket of rock salt and stepped out onto the sidewalk to spread it out.   
“Penny, where’s your coat?”  
Her head snapped up toward the shoe store to the left. “Upstairs in my apartment,” she answered with a smile. “I’ll grab it when I have a chance, Ed.”  
“You be sure to do that, wouldn’t want for you to come down sick,” Ed Chambers smiled back. “If you want, I can have Josh shovel the walk for you later.”  
“Thank you,” she shook her head. “I’ll take care of it.”  
“The offer stands if you get busy, Penny,” he waved before ducking back into his shop.  
Her smile dropped the moment she was alone. Ugh. I do not want Josh shoveling my part of the walk. He will just come into the store and flirt and get mad the moment I turn him down. She ducked back into the foyer for more rock salt. “I’m quite capable of shoveling my sidewalk, clearing off my car, and carrying my groceries,” she muttered out loud. “Don’t need some jerk coming along flexing to show off and entice me into something I want no part of.” A few more scoops of salt later she grabbed the sign her dad had made years ago and set it where it was out of the way but easily seen. Caution: Sidewalk might be slick! Please walk with care!  
She stepped back into her business and flipped the sign from “Closed” to “Come on in, we’re open!”. Once she wiped her feet on the rough mat she sighed heavily. “I swear to God, Cupid better keep his damned arrows away from me.”  
Penny ducked around the wall separating the counter from the kitchen to wash her hands. It would likely be a slow day for business with the snow arriving earlier than expected (never a good sign), and the main drag would be clogged later with rerouted traffic from accidents on the freeway bridge ten minutes away (happens every time it rains or snows, people think they can fly down the highway at 90 miles per hour regardless of the weather). But she had her regulars to think about. Employees from the businesses, city hall, the police and sheriff’s department and the courthouse often popped in for a cup of coffee and a fresh brownie or cookie during their breaks. The auxiliary from the local hospital enjoyed coming in to request books and novelty items to be ordered for their gift shop. She doubted they would come in.   
Slow days could be both a blessing and a curse, she thought. With nothing else to do until the delivery, she settled in behind the counter for a long wait.


End file.
